Hey folks. I got this press release today that I just have to share with
you. I'm not sure whether to laugh at it, or get horribly annoyed at the
sheer stupidity that it exhibits. Background: Canadian Music Week is, as
the name suggests, a week long conference where record company weasels
and media scumbags (I can say this, by the way, since I'm a parttime
music media scumbag myself) converge in Toronto in an orgy of open bars,
free food, and generally lousy rawk music. Like a Canuck CMJ, I guess.
Anyway, here it is. (Capitalized stuff appears in bold on the original
fax.)
*****
It's 1997 and the only thing still constant in the world of music is
change.
Record charts, once dominated by guitar based rock bands, are now making
room for The Prodigy, Underworld and The Chemical Brothers - BANDS THAT
ROCK USING ELECTRONICS.
ELECTRONIC MUSIC IS THE NEW PUNK. It's a DIY world of keypads, silicon
chips and patch cords. It's music that challenges and excites its
audiences in the same way that rock did in the 50s. FACE IT, if you
don't get electronic music YOU MIGHT BE TOO OLD.
On Thursday, March 6th, 1997 you'll have a chance to discover (if you're
not down already) Canada's finest live electronic acts and DJ's [NOTE: I
consider myself pretty connected with the scene up here, and I've never
heard of *any* of the listed live performers, and of the DJs, all but
one of the ones I recognize are crap] as they'll be assembled for the
2nd Annual Canadian Music Week Electronic Music Showcase. The event is
sponsored by Canada's two most visionary and ambitious music publishers:
BMG Music Publishing and EMI Music Publishing.
This year the focus is on techno and house.
[performer/DJ list snipped]
*****
A final note: some friends of mine who have been involved in electronic
music of one form or another for close to a decade, and who have had
material released on several labels worldwide, were rejected from this
showcase because they are "not techno enough". They subsequently put
together their own night of electronica, etc. which has since been given
official CMW "sponsorship", whatever that means.
Feh.
Greg